Foles working hard, not focused on starter announcement

PHILADELPHIA – There is a point at which Nick Foles needs to know who Chip Kelly plans to start at quarterback.

Third preseason game? Fourth? When?

“Whenever Chip decides,” Foles said after the Sunday practice. “Whenever Chip decides. Hey, I don’t go to bed stressing about what’s going to happen. I sleep great. When I’m here I’m working my butt off. It’s not a focal point for me.”

Foles said he split the first-team snaps Sunday with Michael Vick, who took the bulk of the starting snaps in the 11-on-11s Saturday. Beyond the public practices at Lincoln Financial Field, only the first 30 minutes of the NovaCare Complex sessions are now open to the media.

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Vick has performed better than Foles in the preseason. But Kelly likes what he’s seen of the 6-6, 243-pound Foles, minus the turnovers. Foles lost a fumble in the preseason opener. Kelly pointedly said Foles would like a do-over with the ball he launched into the Panthers’ end zone for an interception this past Thursday.

“I’m sure Nick wants that one play back,” Kelly said. “But those things happen. In two weeks in a row which I learned from Nick, he can bounce back from an adverse situation. Not that you ever want to be in one but at least you kind of know how he’ll be. I think from at least a decision-making standpoint both those guys have done a nice job.”

While Kelly evaluates, Foles vows to trudge on.

“I’m going to keep becoming the best player possible,” Foles said. “Mike and I have a great friendship. We’re working. We’re working to make the Philadelphia Eagles better. We’re working to make all these players better around us. We have a really good thing going. We’ve just got to keep pushing.”

Veteran safety Kenny Phillips now has missed a week of work after injuring a quadriceps following back-to-back action at the Linc.

It’s the quad on the same leg as the problematic knee that required micro-fracture surgery.

“Sometimes you compensate,” Phillips said. “But that wasn’t the case. I was just out there running and it was just one of those things that happens. It’s just day to day. I’m just trying to make sure I don’t rush it back and re-hurt myself.”

Phillips said the plan is for him to practice Tuesday and if that goes well, work the rest of the week and play Saturday in Jacksonville.”

A healthy Phillips would be a solid anchor for the Eagles at safety. In his absence rookie Earl Wolff has been getting a lot of snaps.

Veteran safety Patrick Chung looks like the only sure starter in the back end but he lost his job with the Patriots last year.

With the exception of Kelly, who looks like a candidate for injured reserve, the others could have a tough time making the team. Unless, that is, they wind up on injured reserve.

NOTES: Among the guests at practice Sunday was Dick Curl, who quarterbacked Chester High and coached in the NFL for several years.

Curl, 73, is friends with Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Bill Lazor, the quarterbacks coach. Now retired, Curl was inducted into the Delaware County Chapter of the Pa. Sports Hall of Fame...Estimates of the weight of newly signed Eagles defensive end Eddie McClam have ranged from 265 to 300 pounds. McClam said he weighs in at 310. There was enough of a discrepancy his agent notified the proper authorities.